CT’s Enemy Remains takes Webster stage with new album in tow

When Enemy Remains takes to the stage at the Webster Theater on Feb. 8, it will be a gang of Nutmeggers wielding guitars, banging drums—and taking their home state by storm.

The band, which was born as an off-shoot of fellow Connecticut metal merchants Fates Warning, is manned by all residents from the Constitution State, explained drummer Steve Zimmerman in an interview from his home in New Britain.

Zimmerman—who is joined in Enemy Remains by Bob Bryk on keyboards, Tommy Blardo on guitars and vocals, Frank Morin on vocals, Jeff Curtis on bass, and Scott Kadish on guitars— had banged the skins for Fates Warning. But he left the group because he felt the sound at that moment wasn’t heavy enough for his tastes, he explained.

After departing Fates Warning, Zimmerman said he involved himself in a couple of other projects. Eventually, he decided to hook up with guitarist Tommy Blardo. The two spoke and they decided to try something in a more progressive rock vein, since there weren’t many bands at the time mining that genre of metal.

Zimmerman said when Enemy Remains was formed that were adamant about one thing. They didn’t want to sound like Zimmerman’s previous band Fates Warning.

Vocalist Frank Morin and guitarist Scott Kadish, formerly of End Time Illusion, both joined the group in time for recording the new album. Morin’s arrival, in particular, helped steer the sound on the new record.

Zimmerman said Enemy Remains had tried out a couple of other vocalists before the recording. “But they weren’t happening.”

The band members of Enemy Remains already knew Morin, said Zimmerman. So they invited him to take a shot at the lead vocal spot. They provided Morin with the backing tracks for the song “No Faith in Humanity” to see what he could do with them. The band was floored by the results.

What is on the record is the demo Morin sent in, said Zimmerman. The sound Morin provided to the track, inspired the band to continue in that direction.

As for Kadish, Zimmerman said he also was a good friend from the metal scene. He had just left his band and Zimmerman said the rest of Enemy Remains felt he was a good fit to take on the guitar duties. Any idea he had on the guitar, seemed “to fit perfectly like a glove.”

For Enemy Remains, inspiration for its songs can come from several directions, said Zimmerman. “But the bottom line is we listen to each song 1,000 times,” said Zimmerman. If they’re not sure whether something works, said Zimmer, “we work on it till we love it.”

Their new album “No Faith in Humanity” was released on Jan. 20. Although they did not intend to, the album has a concept that reflects its title.

Zimmerman said “No Faith in Humanity” was selected as a title initially because it was the title of the first single. But as the songwriting progressed, he said, the song seemed to represent a running theme behind every song. And in time, all of the songs began to serve as individual pieces of a puzzle that when complete was a concept.

As for what fans can expect when Enemy Remains steps on stage at The Webster to open for Nonpoint, Zimmerman said fans new and old should expect a “high energy, hard driving, very melodic (show).” And once they hear the songs they’ve heard from the new album, Zimmerman said he hopes he hears the fans singing right along with Enemy Remains.